OverviewJoin to apply for the Remote Sensing and GIS Specialist role at FAO.Organizational SettingThe Land and Water Division (NSL) aims at enhancing the agricultural productivity and advancing the sustainable use of land and water resources through improved tenure, management, development and conservation. It addresses the challenges member countries face in ensuring productive and efficient use of land and water resources to meet present and future demands for agricultural products, while ensuring long‑term sustainability of land and water quantity and quality. It promotes equitable access to these natural resources to enhance productivity, livelihoods and ecosystem services. It provides assistance to member nations in developing policies, programmes, best practices and tools in irrigation and drainage, soil conservation, drought mitigation, water rights, access to natural resources, and improvement of land markets.Contracts will be based in FAO HQ (or other location) with required travel for field missions, where relevant.Reporting LinesUnder the overall supervision of the Director NSL, Land and Water Division, technical supervision of the Senior Officer of the Geospatial Unit, collaboration with IT Service Division (CSI). When activities are carried out in countries, the incumbent will be required to work in close collaboration with the FAO Representation in the relevant country of assignment, as well as the relevant FAO regional office.Technical FocusGeographic Information Systems/Remote Sensing.Tasks And ResponsibilitiesProvide technical assistance in the use of GIS/RS in support of project teams and national and regional offices;Conduct technical assessment and identification of the most suitable satellite imagery, geospatial datasets and methodological approaches to support specific project’s needs;Provide technical assistance in developing solutions using geospatial and digital technologies for land and water monitoring in agriculture;Provide technical assistance in satellite image pre-processing, including mosaicking, stacking, atmospheric corrections, object-based-image-analysis (OBIA) for segmentation and classification;Provide technical assistance in monitoring land cover following international standards for legend preparation (LCML/ISO 19144-2), including classification, validation and accuracy assessments;Provide technical assistance in the development of innovative tools such as using cloud-computing platforms (e.g. GEE, SEPAL) and modules based on AI/ML/RS/GIS and big data;Contribute to national capacity development by preparing guidance on using geospatial information and remote sensing;Assist in the development and publication of geospatial datasets on land and water resources, agro-climatic resources, vegetation, crop production, emergency impact assessment, at various geographic levels;Contribute to the development of innovative technical digital agricultural solutions to generate timely and efficient geospatial data in support to agricultural monitoring;Support innovation in data collection through integrated approaches combining field and remote sensing, list and area frame sampling, for agricultural, land and water monitoring systems, including stratification, selection of sites for field data collection/validation;Support the collation, standardization, analysis and reporting of geospatial data and metadata from multiple sources in support to the FAO Hand-in-Hand initiative;Support the capacity development plans on geospatial technologies, including preparation of training and workshop material, preparation of information for meetings and conferences;Disseminate the geospatial data and metadata produced in various media formats (e.g. digital and paper atlas, map layouts, posters);Prepare technical and scientific reports, papers and guidelines describing activities, results, conclusions and recommendations on the process and results; andPerform any other tasks required.Qualifications and Selection CriteriaMinimum RequirementsUniversity degree in GIS, Geography, Environmental Sciences or related field;At least 2 years of experience for base level COF and at least one year for base level PSA or at least five years for middle level COF/PSA in spatial data handling and analysis, satellite data processing and management, GIS and remote sensing applications; andWorking knowledge (level C) of English, French or Spanish for COF. Working knowledge of English for PSA.FAO Core CompetenciesResults FocusTeamworkCommunicationBuilding Effective RelationshipsKnowledge Sharing and Continuous ImprovementSelection CriteriaLimited knowledge (level B) of one of the other two or Arabic, Chinese or Russian (for Consultants) is an advantage.Work experience in programming languages such as R and Python for GIS/RS;Work experience in international organizations and in projects supporting developing countriesWork experience on satellite image analysis, geospatial data and metadata management and processingWork experience on cloud-computing platforms (e.g. SEPAL, Google Earth Engine)Work experience on batch-scripting for data processing, geo-statistical packages for automatic classificationsWork experience on capacity development and knowledge transfer on GIS/RSFamiliarity with the tools of FAO’s Land Cover Classification System (LCCS) standardCapacity to report results to different audiences.Important NoticesFAO is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality, background and culture.Qualified female applicants, qualified nationals of under-represented Members and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply;Everyone who works for FAO is required to adhere to the highest standards of integrity and professional conduct, and to uphold FAO’s values.FAO, as a Specialized Agency of the United Nations, has a zero-tolerance policy for conduct that is incompatible with its status, objectives and mandate, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination.All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checksAll applications will be treated with strict confidentiality.Job Posting: 15/Oct/2025. Closure Date: 30/Oct/2025, 4:59:00 AM. Primary Location: Italy-Rome. Duration: Variable (up to 11 months). Type: Non-staff opportunities. Requisition Type: Consultant / PSA (Personal Services Agreement).FAO’s commitment to environmental sustainability is integral to our strategic objectives and operations.
#J-18808-Ljbffr